Insurance-focused B-D received $550,400 PPP loan last year

The Leaders Group Inc., a large broker-dealer with 1,000 registered reps and a leading seller of variable life insurance, received a $550,400 Paycheck Protection Program loan in April 2020, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That appears to be in the middle range of PPP loans received by privately held broker-dealers who obtained Covid-19 business relief. Last summer, InvestmentNews reported that at least seven broker-dealers received anywhere from $150,000 to $2 million from the program; loans were to be used to protect employees’ salaries during the pandemic and are forgivable.

The Leaders Group Inc., reported the PPP loan in its annual audited financial statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March. The filing did not appear on the SEC's website until last month.

Other larges broker-dealers that got PPP loans include David Lerner Associates Inc., which received a PPP loan of $4 million in April 2020. Another large firm, National Securities Corp., with more than 700 independent reps, reported at the end of last year receiving a PPP loan of $5.5 million.

Sean Wickersham, president of the Leaders Group, did not return calls on Friday to comment.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. said at the start of the year that it was examining individual registered reps who took the PPP loans for possible violations related to work they do outside their brokerage firms.

The PPP provides financing for small businesses that have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.